Curious signs SXSW favourite, Hyun Lee, to its directing roster

December 13, 2018

Curious’ newest director, young filmmaker, Hyun Lee, caught the world’s attention with her first major short film, Asian Girls. The slick horror film, which Lee wrote and directed, explores the facelessness of Asian women in general and garment workers in particular, as well as the broader global issue of the commodification of people.

The work received the Screen NSW: Emerging Filmmakers’ Fund, had its world premiere at SXSW in March 2018, was shown at both The Sydney Film Festival and in MIFF 2018’s WTF Shorts program and was a finalist in the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films. It also screened across the US and Europe, including major film festivals such as the Palm Springs Short Film Festival, London Short Film Festival and Encounters in Bristol, England.

Lee’s filmmaking is uniquely inventive, shaped by her background as a photographer. It is important to Lee that her work is entertaining first and foremost but also works on many levels.

She has recently completed her second short, a very poignant, broken fairytale, French Girls, which Lee is currently developing into a feature film.

Lee made the transition from photography to filmmaking through music videos, the most recent of which is CSR for electro-pop musician, Rainbow Chan.

Her art essays and fashion photography have appeared in publications such as Ruins Magazine (London), the FdeC Reader (Tokyo) and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art’s 4A Papers (Sydney).

Kate Roydhouse, executive producer and managing director of Curious Film, commented, “Hyun is a truly talented and inventive filmmaker. I’ve been so struck by her intricately crafted, visually powerful scenes that really stay with you. We’re delighted to have Hyun as part of the team.”

“I’m so excited to have this opportunity with Curious and I feel privileged to be represented among some great filmmakers whose work I love,” Lee added.